Raja Bhaiya 'threatens' slain pradhan's family

Sacked Uttar Pradesh minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, one of the accused in the killing of Uttar Pradesh DSP Zia-ul-Haque, has been accused of threatening the family of the slain village pradhan (panchayat chief) Nanhen Yadav.

Nanhen Yadav had been shot dead at Walipur village at Kunda, Raja Bhaiya’s Assembly constituency, in UP’s Pratapgarh district, earlier this month allegedly by the sacked minister’s supporters following a political rivalry.

Yadav’s brother Pawan alleged on Tuesday that Raja Bhaiya had called him a few days after the triple killings at Kunda and asked him to keep silence.

“Raja Bhaiya made the call on the day the chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was scheduled to visit us at the village. He asked me not to mention his name to the CM,” Pawan claimed.

“Abhi to do hi maren hain...mera naam loge to aur bhi mar jayenge (till now only two have died if you take my name, more will die),” Pawan said quoting the sacked
minister.

Pawan said that his family has approached the Allahabad High Court seeking security and has also informed the CBI about the threat. Nanhen Yadav’s brother Suresh Yadav had also been killed in the violence at Walipur village in Kunda along with DSP Zia-ul-Haque.

CBI, which is probing the triple killings at Kunda, has detained two supporters of Singh and has also interrogated his another supporter and the Pratapgarh district vice-president of Samajwadi Party (SP) Chabinath Yadav in connection with the killings.

The sacked minister’s representative Hariom Srivastava is also on CBI’s radar, sources said.

Earlier Kamta Pal, a supporter of Raja Bhaiya and a political rival of the slain village pradhan of Walipur Nanhen Yadav, had surrendered before the CBI. Nanhen Yadav’s killing had sparked off violence at the village and led to further clashes in which Haque and a brother of Nanhen Yadav had been killed.

The probe team has not so far quizzed Raja Bhaiya, who has also been booked in the killings, but sources said that he could be quizzed very soon.
DH News Service